Topics

1

Lenses / Best lens for capturing the Milky Way?

« on: April 28, 2013, 06:53:09 PM »

Over the summer I am going to move to Montana, this is great because it means I am only a couple miles away for beautiful locations with almost no light pollution.  I have gotten pretty interested in star photography and I really want to capture the Milky Way.  I shoot with a Canon 5D MKII and I have a 17-40mm f/4 and 50mm 1.8 that I use when I do photograph the night sky.  I have been wondering what would be a good lens to use for capturing the Milky Way, my 50mm seems a bit to long and my 17-40mm seems to slow.  I've been thinking about getting a Rokinon 14mm 2.8 because it is wider so I can use a longer shutter speed without getting star trails and faster so I can use a lower ISO.   Having it be manual focus wouldn't seem to be that much of a problem if the infinity is well marked.  I'm just looking for other peoples inputs on what they think would be a good alterative to my two lens or if one of the lenses I already have would be well suited for this.
Here are some shots I've gotten why in Hawaii and in Montana, unluckily, it was cloudy every night for 2-5 so I never got a chance to get any Milky Way shots.

2

PowerShot / Trip to the zoo with the S100

« on: March 14, 2013, 10:27:31 PM »

Here are some shots I got with my S100 last summer at the St. Louis Zoo

3

Lenses / Need help with choosing a telephoto for $800 and under

« on: March 09, 2013, 03:39:40 PM »

I recently upgraded from a Canon T1i to a Canon 5D MKII and have sold my longer lenses, my 75-300mm f4-5.6 III, which was a terrible lens, and a 28-135mm IS USM.  The only sort of telephoto lens I have right now is a Sigma 105mm macro.  I have a budget of about $800 US and I am not sure what lens to go for in Canons large range of telephotos.  I have manly been thinking about getting a 200mm f/2.8 II as I want to do portraits and I think that this would be a good length on full frame for portraits.  When I had my T1i, I would use my 50mm 1.8 II, but now this seems to be a bit too wide for portraits as it has more distortion then I would like.  When I do portraits, I do them outside so distance away from my subject wouldn't be much of an issue but I am a bit concerned about my control over dof, would there be to much when doing body shots?  Would I better off just using my 105mm for portraits? 

I'm going to Hawaii for spring break and would like to capture more shots of birds and stuff, would the 200mm be a good choice, also what is the difference between the 200mm f/2.8 i vs ii?

Here is some of my portrait work with my 50mm on my T1i








Here is some work I've done with my 105mm on my T1i






Here a shot with the 105mm on my 5D



Sorry for the randomness of my post, I'm just not sure what to go for.

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Lenses / Sigma 105mm F/2.8 Macro EX DG Review

« on: February 26, 2013, 11:54:01 PM »

The Sigma 105mm F/2.8 Macro EX DG is one of the best deals I have ever come across in my short time in photography.  I think that the 90-180mm range of macro lenses are some of the most versatile lenses.  They are usable for a lot more then just macro, they can do great portraits, wildlife, action, and just anything where you need the most amount of detail.  With most macro lenses starting out at F/2.8, they are great for shallow depth of field, but also stop down to as far as F/45 so you can get as much of your subject in focus, an importent thing when doing macro photography.  I got my lens for only $300 in mint condition and I would recommend it to everyone, but not without warning.  The autofocus was alright when it was on my T1i, but when using my 5D MKII, a lot of my shots have been out of focus and I have had to check my focus with live view.  I don't know if it is an electronics problem or if it is that my 5D and lens are on oposite spectrums of the autofocus tolerance and I need to do some micro adjusting.  But while the autofocus is bad, this lens is great for video as it has a very smooth focus ring that is a joy to turn.  For portait this lens is great at around 3.5 this lens is great for portait as it give enough depth of field but still has pretty circular bokeh, it is importent to remember this lens only has eight straight apature blades rather than a nicer nine rounded.  Overall sharpness and performance of this lens is great and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking to get into macro as this lens serves so many purposes, you will definitely get your moneys worth out of it.

Movie shot with lens in combination with 50mm 1.8

Nature	Small | Large

Wildlife shot
http://www.flickr.com/photos/66627224@N02/8276147216/#in/photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/66627224@N02/8210395424/#in/photostream

Portrait
http://www.flickr.com/photos/66627224@N02/8107624722/#in/photostream

Macro
http://www.flickr.com/photos/66627224@N02/8101755629/#in/photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/66627224@N02/8355912864/#in/photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/66627224@N02/8354838679/#in/photostream

Action
http://www.flickr.com/photos/66627224@N02/8355902460/#in/photostream

5

Third Party Manufacturers / Best Third Party BG-E6 Battery Grip For Canon 5D MkII?

« on: December 19, 2012, 03:00:16 PM »

I recently got a Canon 5D MKII, I just sent it back to Amazon to get a new one because of the price difference now.  For some reason, when I called to see if I could get $270 off my purchase, they said send your camera in and order a new one, we will refund you the $1,799.  I told them it would be much easier to just deduct the $270 and that way they would not get a used camera back, I've only had it for six days but still it isn't in box, and have to resale it as used.  Anyways the important thing is that during my first photo shoot with the camera, it did not feel natural to me because of the lack of a battery grip, I usually shoot with a Canon T1i gripped.  I would like to buy a battery grip for the 5D but Canons is just way to much, I'm not looking to spend more then about $70 on a grip.  I was wondering what grip you guys would recommend.  I've seen stuff about having to remove the battery grip every time you put in the batteries and stuff about plastic gears breaking on the grip and them getting stuck on the body.  I would like to know is it really necessary to remove the grip every time you put in the batteries, I've never done that on my T1i and it works perfectly.  Also when looking at many of the grips for the 5D, I have seen that they dont have rubber on the back which to me seems like something that would be very annoying.  So CanonRumors, what do you think is the best grip for your money?

6

Software & Accessories / Format Exporting From Lightroom

« on: October 26, 2012, 03:38:58 PM »

I shoot RAW and edit in post, I sometimes make prints but I am going to start making a lot more, I have always exported my files as JPEGS, should I be exporting them as TIF files instead?  Memory does not really matter to me, I just need the highest quality.

7

Portrait / Post Your Self Portraits Here

« on: October 14, 2012, 01:00:22 AM »

While most self portraits or selfies are stupid photos of girls with there lips stuck out like a duck and there backs hunched over, I would like to see what Canon Rumors can do with a camera in there hands and themselves as the subject.  I just got a Yongnuo YN-560 II and a Cowboy Studio Trigger, I wanted to try some portrait shots but no one else was around, this is what I came up with using a Canon T1i and a 50mm 1.8 II.

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Landscape / Trip to Montana, Landscapes

« on: August 19, 2012, 05:32:12 PM »

Went to Montana for a couple of weeks, had some great views and thought I should share.  Shot with a Canon T1i and a 50mm 1.8 II or 17-40mm F/4L.  I got a Neewer 52mm ND fader and feel in love with it, did not remove all that much sharpness and was only five dollars,  also used a Dolica AX620 B100 Proline which I got for $40 and I would highly recommend it, it was light and had a great ball head.  Please give feedback!

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Portrait / My BEAUTIFUL GF (feedback please)

« on: July 07, 2012, 07:48:26 PM »

Some pics of my BEAUTIFUL GF, shot many wide open do to the terrible pentagonal bokeh of the 50mm 1.8 II